JetBlue Airlines - Organizational Behavior Analysis and Recommendations - Case Study Example

JetBlue Airlines: Organizational Behavior Analysis and Recommendations

• Introduction

An organization is composed of different individuals working towards realization of a common goal. Organizational behavior tries to analyze how the individuals, teams and processes in an organization can be best managed to achieve the goals of the organization. Knowledge of organizational behavior can help managers adopt more effective and efficient processes, which then allow the organization to keep up with changing industry trends.

• Company profile

JetBlue is an American airline founded in 1998, (it however started service in 2000) by David Neel man, with an initial capitalization of 130 million us dollars, running only two aircrafts and an original staff of ten individuals. Due to the respectable reputation of Mr. Neel man and the good financing, it was able to attract talented and reputable veterans of the industry who were interested in creating something new right from scratch. The airline vision was to focus on underserved markets and its main goals were to establish itself as a leading low fare, low cost passenger airline by offering high quality customer service and also differentiated products. It achieved rapid growth, which saw its fleet grow from the initials 2 airplanes to one within a span of ten months (Gittel and O'reilly 1). Within those eleven months, their workforce grew from the initial ten employees to almost a thousand with a projected annual growth of a hundred more with every new aircraft that would be added to their fleet.

Their primary hub is in JFK airport and they use the airbus 320 as their preferred aircraft. Their marketing strategy focuses on enticing individuals who would previously not use flying as their mode of transport, a market segmentation targeting the medium to low, positioning itself as a low cost carrier, and hiring staff who are trained to be customer friendly. Their operational strategy is to use the airbus 320 (as mentioned) which has the advantages of consuming less fuel when compared to other aircrafts like the Boeing 737, has a cabin that is better designed and is also spacious, and the seats have an extra inch of space(Gittel and O'reilly 7). The operational strategy also incorporates paperless operations where even flight plans by pilots are done in their computer laptops, a single flight service and full entertainment plus refreshments for the passengers while they relax on leather seats. Their human capital strategy is also unique in that they provide their employees with a customized payment package, their selection process is rigorous so that they get the right people with the right values for the company and maintaining a small company feel in a big organization. The core values of the organization are safety, caring, integrity, fun and passion. A culture of an effective double way communication between the employees and the management ensures that employee unionization is not important for them to get their grievances taken care of.

• Issues pertaining to organizational behavior

Knowledge of behavioral science by a manager is a powerful tool that can help in them in their managerial duties. However, this knowledge has been used in both responsible and irresponsible ways. The strategic vision of JetBlue airways and the way the company operates has the ability to influence many aspects of their employees’ physical health and wellbeing as well as their overall economic and social welfare. The company is an industry leader in low cost market where it has posted impressive profits for a startup, and are projected to keep on growing each year, but its strategic vision could lead to poor customer service and job satisfaction among its staff members. This is because every market irrespective of the industry, is dynamic. An example of the dynamic nature of markets can be observed by the fact that most organizations now have policies on environmental protection in their visions, which was not the case about 50 years ago. The case of dynamic markets is special for the airline industry where many companies with the a similar strategy to that of JetBlue have rapidly entered the market but soon opted out due to losses and a failure to deliver on their strategic vision. In the airlines industry, profit margins are tight, the costs are high and the level of competition is high.

• • Stress and lack of motivation

Some cabin crew workers who opt for the long working hour’s contract have to endure more than the normal working shifts expected of a flight attendant. The aging workforce of JetBlue airways presents a challenge in the company maintaining the high wages as their allowances and salaries increase. In addition, the practice of having one year contracts raises their expenditure on compensating these employees once they see through their contracts (Gittel and O'reilly 10). This means that in the near future, the airline could find itself in a position where it cannot comfortably pay its workers and also remain profitable. This creates a workforce that is stressed, exhausted and lacks job satisfaction.

Stress has a negative impact on employee output unlike when employees work under normal pressure which has the positive outcome of improving innovation, and the overall performance of employees. Stress is caused by employers who are too demanding, too much work, taking on more responsibilities than one can manage, and having little time to rest which builds up pressure too much pressure in an individual. The employees who sign up for the long working hours are at a risk of developing health complications like anxiety, fatigue, low self-esteem and depression all related to stress build up.

These negative effects of stress have implications not only for the employees but also for the organization’s long term goals and the service that customers receive from these employees. The employees would be unfriendly due to frustrations experienced in the job. Employees who are dissatisfied are also likely to have strained relationships with their colleagues and therefore would cooperate with them in getting tasks done. They would also not support nor celebrate the accomplishments of others in the organization. Additionally, employees who are not customer friendly would not effectively cater to customer requests leading to even worse service.

The two factor theory by Herzberg identified hygiene and motivation as important factors to employees achieving job satisfaction. The hygiene factors are those that need to be kept at certain levels for job satisfaction. They include, relationship with colleagues, job remuneration and security, policies of an organization and the quality of supervision. Motivational factors on the other hand are those that if applied, have the ability to enhance job satisfaction. They include an opportunity for advancement, achievement, responsibility and achievement.

This means a lack of motivation in employees who have short term contracts could be attribute to a lack of opportunities for career advancement and lack of acknowledgement from colleagues. It is important for JetBlue to remove the factors that lead to lack of satisfaction before considering improving the motivation among their employees. It is worth of note to the management at JetBlue that taking care of the issue that lead to job dissatisfaction would not lead to job satisfaction and at the same time increasing satisfaction would not do away with dissatisfaction

• • Lack of an employee union

Lack of an employee union in any organization is a sign of a management that is rigid and practices autocratic control. This could not be the case during the early days of the company, but with time issues arise between the employees and the management that cannot be solved by simply sending an email to the managers (Gittel and O'reilly 10). There is need of a workers union that can be entrusted to present weighty matters to the management in case they arise. Moreover the airline industry has one of the highest percentages of unionization in the United States.

In the event of an autocratic leadership style in JetBlue airlines, the management has all the power in the organization with every interaction having to pass by the manager for approval, all decision making, policy formulation, work activities and decisions on remuneration all being the responsibility of the manager. This also applies to JetBlue where the organization culture emphasizes division of labor and individuals who are only capable of one task in the work environment due to high degree of job specialization. This creates a scenario where the responsibility of decision making is left to one individual which is unacceptable to most employees in modern organizations.

Theory X and Y as suggested by McGregor focuses more on the nature of managerial behavior and less on the needs of the employees. This theory makes an assumption that motivation of employees by their superiors greatly depends on how the supervisor perceives the employee. This assumption led to the two theories; theory X and theory Y. Theory Y implies that workers are active in their work place, with a desire to grow their careers by taking on more responsibilities. In contrast, theory X implies that all workers are lazy and have only their interest at heart, despise change and like to be told what to do as they lack ambition. JetBlue’s operational strategy of which emphasizes on providing services at a low cost could see the management adopt strict controls over the employees. Such a management would be one that believes that their employees have a behavior that is consistent with McGregor’s theory X.

• • staff turnover

Employee turnover means double loss for an organization in that they lose the expertise of an employee and at the same time, a rival gains that knowledge. Though the management at JetBlue may think that employee relations are good, the employment period suggests otherwise. This is because most college students are willing to leave the organization after they have seen through their one-year contracts (Gittel and O'reilly 11). This is because most of them are uncertain of the future and therefore are afraid of committing themselves to the organization.

Vrooms expectancy theory states that the effort an employee will put in a job is influenced by the expected returns of their efforts. If employees are rewarded for their performance, and the reward is they get is of high value to them, they are more likely to stay for long in an organization. JetBlue believes that their pay packages are the best in the industry and therefore no employee is irreplaceable.

Recommendations

• • Ouchi’s theory z

JetBlue airways has to get the employees more involved in decision making by having one of them represent them in the human resource department. This could serve to effectively eliminate the need for a workers union. The use of emails is not an effective way to get employee grievances taken care of.

Theory Z which was formulated by William Ouchi states that employees who are more involved in an organizations decision making process are more productive because they feel more motivated and appreciated by their managers. If this theory is to be applied, jetblue airways would be expected to provide more long term contracts that reduce employee turnover and also enhance loyalty among the working staff. Flight attendants play an important role in improving the image of an airline because they are always in contact with the passengers.

• • Alderfer’s ERG Theory

This theory is in contrast to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy theory that that is structurally rigid. The ERG theory suggests than more than one need can be operational at the same time where a higher level need can be satisfied before a lower level need. The hierarchical theory advocates for the satisfaction of lower level needs first before higher level needs.

Application of the ERG theory means that if an employee is unable to gain self-actualization, they are more likely to focus their energies in satisfying other related needs like communication and interaction. Lack of opportunities for growth in some of the employees of JetBlue airways does not help motivate them to carry out their duties in a more effective manner. The organization should guide their employees toward achieving the set objectives and goals through providing a good working environment and job empowerment. Job empowerment can be realized through long term contracts that also reduce the employee turnover.

• Conclusion

In conclusion, JetBlue airways is in a powerful position that could see it improve their dominance in the market and become the ideal airline to work for as well as the carrier of choice for many passengers in the united states. However their organizational approach has to change as the company grows or else the impressive profits and efficiency could take a turn for the worst. Issues that need to be addressed are creation of a position for an employee representative in the human resource department, more long term contracts to curb the high employee turnover and better working conditions to reduce stress and improve motivation among the employees. Various models and recommendations have been suggested to help improve the organizational behavior at JetBlue airways.